Less than 48 hours after celebrating an 86-yard touchdown in a pre-season game, receiver Lucky Whitehead took to social media to celebrate scoring a job with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“Lucky 7’s… officially official!,” Whitehead said via his Twitter account (@Luck2fastt) on Saturday, announcing his new jersey number before the Bombers had even released the news he was on the team.

That Whitehead survived Saturday’s final cuts won’t shock anybody, not after he took a relatively short Matt Nichols pass, turned on the afterburners and left the Saskatchewan Roughriders defence in his wake in Regina, Thursday.

“I definitely think that touchdown probably sealed it,” a chuckling Whitehead said over the phone, Saturday afternoon. “We had just run the play in practice and it came out the same result. Being with the first group and catching that pass from Matt was an awesome feeling. And showing that there’s more to me than returning, was another great feeling.

“I’m looking forward to everything.”

Whitehead often says he likes to “flip the field,” but he may have flipped the script in his first CFL training camp.

Coming out of the Bombers’ free-agent camp in Florida in April as a contender for the kick-return position, the 27-year-old former NFLer might have made the team as a receiver who can also return kicks.

“I hope I did,” he said. “I definitely feel like I’m in the talks for being a receiver as well here.”

While the big play against the Riders may have sealed the deal, Whitehead is just as proud of how consistent he was through camp and how hard he’s worked to learn the play book.

“I knew my stuff,” he said. “I was put in different positions, and I knew my job, I knew what to do. When it was time to make the play, I made my plays.”

It seems he’s light-years from the player who walked into that free-agent camp, saw all the receivers in motion and wondered “what in the world is going on?”

“It’s crazy how fast it’s moving,” he said. “I’m going in the right direction. And once I do learn it… when I get it down to a tee, it’s going to be poetry in motion.”

Whitehead says he’ll take whatever role the Bombers give him, whether that means being a returner who fills in at receiver, or vice-versa.

While his inclusion in the season-opening roster is no surprise, Saturday’s axe did fall in a few unexpected places.

Veteran third-string quarterback and special-teamer Bryan Bennett was among the casualties, as the Bombers went with 23-year-old Sean McGuire as their No. 3 instead, obviously seeing more upside in him than the 27-year-old Bennett.

Other notable cuts included defensive lineman Brandin Bryant, who started nine games last season, and receivers Corey Washington (three games) and Rashaun Simonise, the 6-foot-4 target from Vancouver whom the Bombers chose 12th overall in last year’s CFL draft.

Defensive back Tyneil Cooper (five games last year) was also sent packing, as was former U of M Bisons defensive lineman Tariq Lachance, a sixth-round pick this year.

Draft choices making the team included O-lineman Drew Desjarlais and Winnipeg-born running back Brady Oliveira, this year’s first- and second-round picks, respectively.

For Whitehead, Saturday’s news was special, after injuries and off-field issues, including a couple of brushes with the law that were well-documented in previous Winnipeg Sun stories, helped end his NFL career.

“A second chance,” he called it. “Just the fact I got to camp healthy… I’m just super-stoked. I’m definitely going to take it head-on. No regrets. Go out there every day and show them they didn’t make a mistake.”

Being out of football last year reminded Whitehead just how much he missed being around teammates.

As soon as he realized he’d made the Bombers – “It was pretty much if you don’t hear from no one by 12:30, you kind of made the team” – he called his family back home in Virginia.

It was his godmother who suggested he wear No. 7, pointing out the Biblical significance of it.

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